Five Comics Worth Reading - June 2011

BATMAN BEYOND
I was not a regular viewer of the Batman Beyond cartoon—caught a couple stray episodes, the Return of the Joker movie and then the Justice League Unlimited crossover stuff—but Adam Beechen and company have made sure that’s hardly a prerequisite to enjoying this comic. An elderly Bruce Wayne mentoring a snarky new Batman in the future seems like a pretty slam dunk premise, but what I dig about this book is the effort Beechen puts into not resting on the concept’s laurels and pushing himself to go further. Terry McGinnis’ is a great character—he’s Peter Parker with more swagger as Batman—but Beechen focuses on fleshing out the world around him, from his relationship issues—the classic “my girlfriend thinks I’m bailing on her because I’m a super hero” routine but done with panache—to a techno-conspiracy enveloping his best friend/sidekick. There has also been expansion to the Batman/DC Universe elements I believe the cartoon only touched on, including bringing in Dick Grayson, giving the Justice League a bigger role and starting to dig into what happened to Bruce following his Batman career. It’s all stuff that can be pulled off better in the comic book format than in episode TV aimed primarily at kids, so I applaud Beechen, Ryan Benjamin, et al. for embracing the new avenues open to them while keeping the heart of the show and what made it work intact.

GENERATION HOPE
There are few things tougher in this current comic book climate than creating new characters with distinct voices who can hopefully capture the attention of the audience, but with Generation Hope, Kieron Gillen faced this challenge not once but multiple times, with a cast whose most tenured star has only been around a couple years and that includes five newbies that he and Matt Fraction introduced only months ago. There may have been some growing pains early on, but the Five Lights and their leader have genuinely won me over to the point where I’m quite compelled to see what’s up with them each issue and the X-Men guest stars serve more to place them in the larger universal context than anything, thanks in large to the clever and endearing writing of Mr. Gillen. These kids stand out from the New Mutants or Young X-Men of the past in so many ways, not limited to their complete lack of preparation for this life given a world where nascent mutants have become scarce as well as the paramilitary yet arguably practical lifestyle Hope took from her mentor, Cable, and is passing on to her fellow barely adolescents. I enjoy the soap opera I’d argue is paramount for any X-Men title worth its salt, but also the more sinister touches, like exactly how much sway Hope holds over her “friends” and to what degree they realize it. There are also neat well thought out and uniquely Gillen touches like the idea of a mutant who manifests in the womb or the seemingly canine Teon delivering a compelling speech in court because his power is to adapt to situations, and the other Lights then wondering if he was being genuine or if “adapting” in this case meant keeping proximity to Hope whether he liked it or not. Salva Espin is matching the tone of the book nicely, upping his game each month both in terms of bringing fun nuance to the lighter moments and letting his experimental side run wild on a character like Kenji.

INCREDIBLE HULKS
Greg Pak is finishing out a five-year run with The Hulk, and you can tell he’s enjoying every last second of his swansong. If there’s one thing Pak’s Hulk has never been, it’s understated, so when he put together a multi-part spy story that featured Bruce Banner going undercover with a tux—that Hulk promptly ripped—and cool gadgets to save his wife-turned-Red-She-Hulk who had thrown in with his old foe Tyrannus on a quest for Pandora’s Box, you better believe he was going to wring every last drop of awesome out of that description, not skimping at any second for less smashing, fighting, big set pieces or over-the-top resolutions than you’d expect. There have been no shortage of pathos over the last five years, but aside from a healthy dose of heartache peppered throughout and culminating at the conclusion, that arc was more about enjoyment than emotion. Now we come to “Heart of the Monster,” Pak’s big five-part finale, and thus far he’s already brought in every element from the previous story plus Bi-Beast—BI-BEAST!—Wendigo, the Troyjan from Peter David’s legendary run, Fin Fang friggin’ Foom, Umar, a wishing well, possibly the fountain of youth and surely more to come. Pak has also brought Amadeus Cho back to where he started out as Hulk’s alternating tech wiz/sidekick/comic relief and it’s been a beautiful fit. Also also, Tom Grummett on the last arc and Paul Pelletier here are about as delightful a one-two artistic punch as you can ask for. Everything about Pak’s Hulk run has been wonderfully well-rounded, delivering massive action alongside laughs, angst and character development, so this is proving a fitting farewell.

WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS
If there’s anything book on the market today that delivers pretty much what’s advertised on the cover in spades, I do believe it’s Wolverine: The Best There Is, and for the record I consider that a good thing. Up front in black and white you’ve got no shortage of labels letting you know this is not a comic for immature readers or the weak of heart, and it’s not; it’s Charlie Huston’s glorious ode to hyper violence and taking off the safety as you only can with a character like Wolverine—or perhaps only with Wolverine, period—as illustrated with fiendish and sickeningly beautiful visual glee by Juan Jose Ryp. The first arc saw creepy new villain Contagion attempt to unlock the secret to Logan’s healing factor by employing every nefarious trick in his arsenal, be it his own ability to produce the grisliest plagues he could imagine, mind games of the crudest nature, or his array of henchmen with regenerative abilities of their own—a mix of Marvel obscurities Huston delighted in reviving or his own creations—hacking away at our hero in manners most hideous. Best There Is serves as the comic book equivalent of a grind house horror flick in the tradition of Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider, building on brutality, turning the amps louder than they should logically go, and making an experiment in four color sadism the kind of fun you feel mildly guilty about having. Plus: “Suicide” Chris Daniels (not to be confused with Christopher Daniels aka Suicide)!

XOMBI
On the surface, I almost feel like Xombi is a book that should be too smart for me—a testament to the sophistication and layers John Rozum brings to it—but when I get to actually reading, I’m able to follow along without much trouble and get absorbed into a the weirdness of it all—a testament to how skillfully he and the people working with him manage and present those elements as strengths rather weaknesses. The series’ lead, David Kim, is basically immortal and resultantly a bit emotionally detached, but Rozum chooses to examine that condition, letting the narrative live in large part in Xombi’s head, challenging the merits as well as the pitfalls of being so apart from the world at once in a clinical manner but an impassioned one that can’t break free as well. Our cold point of view figure proves a perfect lens to a fantastically bizarre world that includes super-powered nuns, demons powered by their own reputation and men who get their information from loose change. Xombi delights in its weirdness but also knows how to throw in some darn good fight scenes amidst the conspiracies and mythologies, with all of it powered by Frazer Irving, an immensely talented artist whose style stands out amongst anything else in comics, appearing more like wood carvings than drawings at times, and matching up nicely with the story Rozum’s telling, both residing on a plane so separate from about anything else you’ll read. There’s nothing else on the stands anything like Xombi, and I look forward already to reading it back as a whole and enjoying it perhaps even more than I have the parts.

Underrated/Overlooked: World War Hulk: X-Men

Sometimes comics can be poetry; they can be works of art; they can be an allegory to a far greater statement used to illustrate the thoughts of their creators in a unique and beautiful medium.

But other times it’s just fun when people in colorful costumes punch each other and talk smack with lots of double page spreads.

However, to say just about any comic book story is just about the punching is a disservice to that story, as there’s generally—not always—something going on at a deeper level even when the surface is a popcorn movie. In my mind though, there’s certainly nothing wrong when the first level of fun is what sticks with you and you perhaps lose the sublevel context unless you’re re-reading; a well-executed fun comic is every bit as impressive as any other sort of achievement from where I sit.

Greg Pak and John Romita Jr.’s World War Hulk is the type of story I remember fondly as a fun comic with lots of punching. Pak had just told a year-long epic weaving science fiction with commentary on The Hulk’s inner identity and sense of self and managed to climax all that character work in a blockbuster that both showcased Romita’s proficiency for drawing the big fights as well as the emotional payoff for the build.

Within the larger event was the three-issue World War Hulk: X-Men limited series by Christos Gage and Andre Di Vito. Now just as the main event worked in pathos with the action, so too did this side story, with moral dilemmas playing a major role and the quiet moments of characterization standing out, but at the end of the day, I know my friend Christos Gage, and I believe he set out to tell the coolest “action figures come to life” romp he could with The Hulk fighting the X-Men—and he succeeded.

The gist of World War Hulk is that the Illuminati rocketed Hulk into space with the intention of sending him to a quiet planet where he would be happy and left alone, but instead he ended up on the war-town world of Sakaar; nonetheless, Hulk flourished on Sakaar, overthrowing a dictator, making friends and falling in love, but then a bomb he thinks the Illuminati placed on his ship detonated, killing most of the populace—including his new wife and their unborn child—so he heads back to Earth with what remains of his army and declares war on the dudes who sent him into space to begin with.

The gist of World War Hulk: X-Men is that Professor X wasn’t at the Illuminati meeting where they made the whole “send Hulk into space” call, but Hulk wants to find out how he would have voted had he been there, and he’ll beat the crap out of every X-Man to get his answer straight from the source and then decide his response.

The first issue has Hulk crashing the X-Mansion where Professor X and Beast are hanging out with the New X-Men while the adults are all off on a mission. One of many cool/smart moves Gage does with this series is structures the whole thing like a boxing/wrestling card with the undercard stuff gradually building excitement to the main event. In this case, the opening bout is the inexperienced and outclassed New X-Men going up against the strongest force in the Marvel Universe and getting their plucky butts kicked, but not before dishing out some decent shots like X-23 kicking Hulk in the eye with one of her toe blades. It also gives Xavier a chance to agonize over yet another mistake coming back to haunt him—this came right on the heels of the double reveal that he created Danger and concealed the existence of Vulcan and the rest of the second class of X-Men—and his most innocent students suffering as a result.

By the end of issue one, the first cavalry arrives in the form of the Astonishing X-Men cast: Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde. At this point, Xavier is ready to surrender, lest more of his protégés suffer, but Cyclops and Emma, showing signs of their growing independence from the Professor, tell him that’s not happening—they’re pissed at him for lots of stuff, but only they get to punish him for it—and we’re set for the next round.

This would be a good time to mention how perfect Andrea Di Vito’s art is for this story. His figures are smooth and exaggerated in the right way for super hero comics, even more so super hero comics with lots of fighting with fists flying, claws popping and energy blasts of every shape, size and color being tossed around. As he showed in Annihilation, Di Vito knows how to choreograph the visual aspect of a massive battle beautifully and also how to bring a large cast to life, two musts for this series. Di Vito’s art perfectly walks that line of intensity and fun with some brutality mixed in for effect, and it’s exactly what Gage’s script calls for here.

So with the second issue we get into the big ticket battles in earnest, as Hulk has some actual competition, and said competition continues to expand as the smashing continues and more X-Men—including Nightcrawler, Warpath, Darwin and Hepzibah—along with X-Factor get conscripted into service. You’ve got to love—or at least I do—how Gage doesn’t just go for the easy route of fan service taking all the toys out of the toy box and then putting all the work on Di Vito to just make an eternally neat premise come to life; he actually thinks out the fights and comes up with some genuinely clever twists. I dig how he solves the issue of Darwin, the mutant who evolves to face any threat, by having his power determine the best way to protect him is teleport him to Connecticut, thus taking him out of the fight.

Given their history, Wolverine and Hulk obviously get some significant screen time, although I’m once again impressed on how this creative team is able to push quality over quantity and not let this battle take away from any other in terms of real estate. Di Vito proves up to the task of depicting the requisite grisliness of Logan slicing up his most unbeatable foe and two guys with mega healing factors going to town, but my main kudos goes to another thinking man’s twist by Gage as to the resolution of the fracas—and I am of course going to spoil it here—as he has Hulk rattle Wolverine around by the head, reasoning that even though he can heal real quick from physical wounds, the brain damage caused by squishy gray matter inside an Adamantium skull is a lot tougher to bounce back from.

Another deserving character who gets a nice spotlight here is Colossus, the X-Men’s resident strong man and the Marvel Universe power broker who generally gets left out of the discussion when folks debate their Hulk vs Thor vs Thing battles. Peter Rasputin has a nice showing that focuses on how even though he’s no match for The Hulk—or probably any of those guys—from a pure power perspective, his heart and how much he cares about his friends keeps him in the game; it doesn’t stop him from getting brutally dispatched and having his metal arms broken backwards, but it keeps him in the game for a bit.

On that score, World War Hulk: X-Men is in a lot of ways about Christos Gage giving every X-Man across the board of power and popularity their turn to shine even if it’s in the smallest way, and it’s neat to see that kind of instant credibility a character can receive by lasting even a couple panels with The Hulk—and indeed Gage makes sure to impress upon us that is a big deal.

The Hong Kong action movie style you’d see in a Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan flick where the bad guys attack one at a time to give the star a chance to show off their moves is what Gage employs here with the X-Men as the henchmen, but in this case he manages to use the fight tableaus to give both combatants cool moments. Warpath gets to do a little slicing and dicing with his Vibranium knives before getting swatted away. Monet actually stands toe-to-toe for a bit. Strong Guy nearly gets the job done before being undone by the inherent limitations of his own power. Hepzibah uses the Blackbird as a lawn dirt. And Jamie Madrox gets to hold his own in a verbal spar with Emma Frost.

Nobody gets to shine like The Juggernaut though.

If you know Christos Gage or have ever read an interview with him, you know that he has his particular passion characters, among them Union Jack, Devil Dinosaur, Red Ronin and in particular The Juggernaut. He’s a pro, but he’s also a fanboy, and he’s a dude who loves seeing Juggernaut being big, bad, and crushing everything in his unstoppable path. By the time World War Hulk rolled around, Juggernaut had spent a couple of years at diminished power levels and on the side of angels; when he got his turn at bat, Gage decided to take a swing at bringing back the character he loved but without having to disrespect any work that had come before in the process.

In the second issue of World War Hulk: X-Men, Cain Marko makes a plea to his patron, Cyttorak, to amp his powers back up, ostensibly so he can rescue his half-brother, Professor X, from The Hulk, but ends up getting dropped into the action still at half-strength then stomped. Cyttorak wants his avatar back to being vicious, and realizing on some level that’s what he wants as well, Cain agrees to go back to being a badass, armoring back up and giving The Hulk a real run for his money. Gage scripts the Hulk-Juggernaut smackdown with glee while Di Vito brings his amped up A-game to bear on the comic book equivalent of slamming two locomotives together over and over. It’s a great fight, but perhaps more importantly it allowed Gage to add some edge back to Juggernaut without overwriting his years as a decent dude, placing some acknowledged internal struggle between the character’s desire to better and deeply held love for mayhem.

Without completely spoiling the ending—even with all I’ve already given away, you should still absolutely check this out for the stuff I haven’t plus the great art—the ultimate resolution comes from a fairly unlikely source and in a way that leaves the story without any real winners, a parallel to the larger story of World War Hulk.

Fitting the X-Men into larger events has been a tricky proposition since the days of Secret Wars, as they’re so vast and such an overwhelming presence that bringing them in without making the story all about them can be tough. Their co-star billing alongside the Avengers in House of M pretty much shoved everybody else out of the picture, while I can’t picture the main threads of Infinity Gauntlet, Civil War, Secret Invasion and so on holding up as solidly with a few dozen mutants crowding the picture. Off-to-the side stories that have value and make the X-Men part of the bigger happenings are always welcome and that’s what Gage and Di Vito give us here.

They also created a story I remembered as fun and then came to see as darn clever upon reflection, so well done all around.

Play Ball (with super heroes)!

Baseball season has arrived! Normally this would be where I make some sort of mocking comment directed toward John Cerilli and his beloved New York Mets, but given the 0-3 start my Boston Red Sox are off too, I think I’ll keep quiet for the time being (if there’s one thing I remember from 2004, though, it’s that starting off 0-3 isn’t ever the end).

Though I absolutely hated playing baseball when I was a kid both because the kids pitching could never throw strikes and I ended up sitting in the outfield for literally hours every night and was also terrified of getting hit by those same wild pitches after watching a teammate get a black eye from one, I came around on the sport later in life, mostly in college and immediately after. I find it a far better spectator sport that you can have on in the background at home while you do other stuff or have a great experience watching at the ballpark.

For the most part, though, the two things that most got me into baseball were watching with my dad during the summer of 2004 after I graduated and before I started and Wizard and then being in a fantasy league with my buddies. Unfortunately, my college friends lost interest pretty quick, and while I was in a league with some high school pals right up through last season, they’re all investment bankers and kept upping the entry fee, so I had to bow out and save my wallet (never mind that we only started paying dues the year after I won…but I’m not bitter).

So to fill that fantasy baseball void in my life this year, I’ve decided to draft my seven-person dream roster of super heroes who I’d send out on the diamond if the league didn’t check for performance enhancers and super soldier serum.

BATMAN
If you’re going by win-loss record, you need to go with Batman, who regardless of how tough or wily the opposition is always finds a way to claim victory. This is a dude who beat a pack of White Martians with a lighter and some luck—imagine what he could do against the Cubs! My one concern would be going against whoever drafted Bane, but I’ve got to put my faith in the system and imagine that all that if the league is testing for HGH, they’re not just going to let Venom slide.

THE HULK
On the other hand, you can’t ban The Hulk from competing since he didn’t choose to be caught in that Gamma Bomb, he’s just an unfortunate accident victim who has overcome his unfortunate circumstances to flourish as a rampaging man-monster. It would be a challenge finding Hulk a uniform that isn’t going to mysteriously transform into torn purple pants, but that’s an obstacle I’d be willing to overcome in order to gain the home runs he brings to the team. What’s a home run when it comes to super heroes? I’m not entirely sure, but if you can hold up a friggin’ mountain during Secret Wars, surely you can notch a few!

DONNA TROY
There are few positions more important to a good fantasy baseball team than the utility infielder. You need to have that player who can float from first to second to shortstop to third and fill in for whoever gets injured or has a day off. Who in comics has more versatility than Donna Troy? Sure she has an incredibly convoluted history, but the advantage is that just about wherever you plug her in, it kinda sorta makes sense. Need a Teen Titan? Donna! Looking for a Darkstar? Donna! Diana’s too busy to be Wonder Woman for a few issues? Donna! Your shortstop pulled their hamstring? Donna Troy!

COLOSSUS
First off, he’s been throwing Wolverine at bad guys in a move explicitly called the Fastball Special for decades, so you know he’s got a great arm and can be your ace pitched. Second, he’s got the power to transition over be the Designated Hitter as well, so you’re aces for interleague play if need be. But most importantly, Colossus will be the king of the RBI given how used he is to bailing his X-Men buddies out of jams and holding off that collapsing door or attacking army of goons so they can slide in for the win.

THE SPECTRE
I’d pick The Spectre for an often overlooked key category: Saves. In the DC Universe, when a big event is going badly for the good guys, they consistently count on The Spectre to come out of the bullpen and turn things around. The guy arm-wrestled The Anti-Monitor at the dawn of time during Crisis On Infinite Earths, threw Parallax in chains at a crucial point in Zero Hour and more often than not plays cavalry after the starting team goes down. While Crispus Allen is still getting the hang of the gig, he’s got the work ethic to be an all-time great.

SPAWN
He’s spent nearly 20 years around Todd McFarlane, he’s got to have picked up a thing or two from Mark McGwire’s balls.

GAMBIT
Steals.

Five Comics Worth Reading - August 2010

INCREDIBLE HULK
By the nature of the character and his history, it’s not uncommon for most writers to just do big smash-‘em-up action stories when it comes to The Hulk, and a lot of them are pretty fun, but I love when folks go outside the framework and cast him in sagas with uncharacteristic depths. I’ve made no secret that Peter David’s Hulk run is one of my favorite extended comic works by virtue of the psychological edge he brought and the use of humor. Over the last several years, Greg Pak has brought his own unique take to the Hulk mythos while also providing no shortage of epic fights from Planet Hulk to World War Hulk. Since the creation of Bruce Banner’s son, Skaar, Pak has introduced a new element not really explored in Hulk history: the notion of family. With Incredible Hulk #611, the wrap to Pak’s end of World War Hulks as well as a major climax for the Skaar saga, he really stepped it up a notch further with an issue packed with both an amazing battle between gamma goliaths as well as an emotional punch provided by the mining of Banner’s own childhood and how it has affected him even more than we knew. It’s smart, it’s raw and it balances intensity and fun with intellectualism; it’s great work from a great writer not to mention possibly career-best stuff from artist Paul Pelletier, who has had a heck of a career, so I don’t put that lightly. I’ve been fortunate enough to scan the first issue of this book’s new incarnation, Incredible Hulks (yes, plural) and the hits are going to keep coming in a “team” book that fills a niche I don’t think we’ve fully seen.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST
Justice League International was a seminal work and a wholly unique one for the time it came out in, casting super hero teams—indeed THE super hero team—in a more down-to-earth and humorous light. Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis did an incredible job sustaining what could have been a quick burnout concept for years and elevating characters like Booster Gold, Fire and Ice to places they never would have been. Unfortunately, once the title did run its course, the characters seemed to flounder and lose their place save for the occasional fun reunion mini; they were a group people had a lot of affection for, but that seemed to have had a definitive expiration date. Kudos then to Judd Winick—the the initial aid of Giffen—for finally bringing the old crew back together and making them work in a more serious context that doesn’t chuck the fun wholesale and incorporates all the characters’ continuity. Generation Lost has been a neat ride thus far that has some weight to it with the threat posed by Max Lord feeling large in scale and a cool underdog vibe to how the JLI crew is viewed both by others and themselves. I like the way Winick has cast Booster and company as underachievers determined to prove the world wrong but not entirely confident they can; it feels organic. I’m also amazed I didn’t see the Kingdom Come connection coming, so more props for that.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA
I’ll admit that, particularly as a Roy Harper fan, Justice League: Cry For Justice was a tough sell for me, but I’ve also got to say I’ve really been digging what James Robinson has been doing with Justice League of America since taking over in earnest and getting his first few issues out of the way. I like that he has made it the one-stop-shop for all DC characters and continuity; a nexus of the DC Universe with dozens of cameos and allusions to past stories every issue. In some ways it feels like if Starman was a love letter to a certain type of fiction and era of nostalgia, Robinson’s JLA is that on a grander scale to DC as a whole, and I can dig that. I’m still not 100% sold on Congorilla—I don’t subscribe to the “he’s cool because he’s a talking gorilla” deal that I know is enough for some people—or Supergirl in the big leagues, but I like Robinson’s take on Dick Grayson-as-Batman and he seems to have a decent shot at figuring out the formula for ciphers like Donna Troy and Jade. Seeing Mark Bagley get to draw so many characters is a nice perk and the current crossover with Justice Society of America is popcorn action done pretty entertainingly, so no complaints here.

MARVEL UNIVERSE VS. THE PUNISHER
Jonathan Maberry has very quickly and suddenly emerged as a promising new voice in the Marvel stable of writers. I found his DoomWar event to be a well-plotted, well-paced story with plenty of action and an old school super hero dynamic that didn’t feel dated; Maberry is a successful novelist who clearly has an excellent grasp of his tools as a writer and a comic book fan who has been able to translate his skills to this medium. Marvel Universe Vs. The Punisher allows Maberry to flex different muscles in a post-apocalyptic tale that resembles I Am Legend done Marvel-style but also stands on its own just fine. Frank Castle fits nicely into the role of archetypal of the grumpy, jaded loner looking to stay alive and refusing to acknowledge his own heroism. Maberry’s take on Marvel characters seized by a 28 Days Later-like rage virus is both scary and fun, with little jokes and flourishes only a guy who knows his stuff could make. Goran Parlov is really clever with his art as well, incorporating in gags like bird-themed characters being among the first scavengers to pick apart a homeless shelter (apparently I have a more twisted sense of humor than I thought). This is only a four-issue limited series that’s already half-way done, so I urge you to get your hands on it ASAP.

THOR: THE MIGHTY AVENGER
I let the first two issues of this series sit at the bottom of my pile of comps from Marvel for weeks and am now very much regretting it. It’s real cool the way Roger Langridge is completely re-imagining the Thor saga as a total “stranger in a strange land” story; the characters of Thor, Jane Foster, et al. feel familiar yet new and you’re really not sure what’s going to happen next. Thus far Langridge has done a great job of capturing what it would feel like if a world as fantastic as Thor’s subtly infringed on our relatively mundane one, a story I’ve seen before but rarely done so well. I also like the way the layers are being slowly peeled back to introduce teases of Asgard and the super heroic into Jane’s life and we get to see it through her eyes; I’m on the edge of my seat thinking how rad it’s going to be when we actually see Odin and the rest, so I hope it continues to be built to a little bit at a time. In addition to a great new take on Jane that casts her as more than just a Silver Age love interest, Langridge really explores some intriguing sides of Thor, not just focusing on the proud warrior but also the homesick traveler and perhaps most engaging the lost orphan missing his family and chasing their love. Chris Samnee is one of comics’ best kept secrets and he’s really breaking out here. Can’t wait to see where this goes and if the goal is to get people psyched for the movie, I daresay this book should be a nice success.

Ring Redux: Marvelous Lanterns

A few months back, like every other blogger who devotes more time to Melrose Place and Subway than legitimately thoughtful essays on the craft of comics , I did my mandatory “Who I want to see as a BLANK Lantern” post. Lo and behold, the last issue of Blackest Night saw me and every other person who has ever figured out how to use a comic book message board go “oh snap!” as Geoff Johns went ahead and actually handed out those fancy Lantern rings to an assortment of DC heroes and villains.

So how can I out-geek both myself and Geoff Johns here? I can do something I’m sure nobody on any forum or blog has ever done ever before: say which Marvel characters I think would be best suited to wear the various rings! I am a genius!

But yeah, seriously, this is how I would let it roll if somebody walked into my office tomorrow and said, “Ben, it's time to do our version of Blackest Night and you’re the only person on the payroll qualified to pull it off with finesse and dignity” (this will never happen because, y’know, Werewolf By Eve; also, my lack of qualifications and legitimacy). I did actually try and give it some, so lets see how it goes…

RED: The Hulk
Ok, pretty obvious, but at least I got it out of the way first. For the record, I’m going with the green Bruce Banner version of The Hulk and not the Red Hulk (though it’s pretty ironic we currently have a Red Hulk as I’m making this pick). It’s not hard to rationalize this one: the inner anger Banner kept repressed from childhood on was what caused him to first transform into The Hulk (that and the massive amounts of gamma radiation), and it’s always been Banner’s anger at himself, his father, the world, etc. that fuels the engine of rage that is his emerald alter ego. Since The Hulk alone is pretty badass, a ring-powered Hulk that spews fiery blood vomit would be sick (and quite 90’s); it’s almost a shame the visual of a crimson Hulk is already out there, but a savvy designer could still have fun with this one.

ORANGE: Norman Osborn
Thought I was gonna say Kingpin, didn’t you? Well I thought I was going to at first, at least, but then I really thought about it: who is so ambitious that getting to be perhaps the most powerful man in the Marvel Universe still wasn’t enough for him so he had to keep reaching, providing the foundation for the current Siege? Norman Osborn is so greedy when it comes to power he literally can’t stop himself and be comofortable achieving stuff other people would only dream of—he has to keep going. The simple desire your average super villain or crimelord has for wealth or even world domination isn’t on par with a guy who doesn’t even know what he wants, just that he wants more. Also: sociopath with a power ring equals fun.

YELLOW: Sabretooth
Had trouble with this one at first, as it’s easy to think of characters who instill fear, but I wanted somebody who really gets off on it—somebody who for them just freaking people out is enough motivation to do stuff. I mean, look at somebody like Mister Fear: his whole gig is finding out what terrifies people and then inducing it, but end of the day he’s after money, women, etc. Ditto pretty much every freaky bad guy I could think of—until I came to Sabretooth. Yeah, Victor Creed has taken jobs for cash before, but you always get the sense he wouldn’t sign up for any gig unless it provided him with an opportunity to terrorize somebody. And yeah, his primary thing is his intense bloodfeud with Wolverine, which goes beyond motivations that are really quantifiable at this point, but his usual method of getting to Logan is to methodically stalk the people close to him and torture them before killing them. This is a guy who lives to hear his victims scream and I can’t think of many better Yellow Lantern candidates.

GREEN: Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
If you’ve ever shot a bow and arrow, you know how mind-numbingly patient and determined you have to be to even get the damn thing to fire, let alone be good at it (I lack the patience and/or determination and/or skill to be even remotely skilled in this regard). To possess archery skills the likes of which Clint Barton needs in order to be a valuable asset to the freaking Avengers? Forget about it. Barton has willpower in spades, otherwise he would never have been able to be able to train himself in the use of his chosen weapon in the first place, nor would he be able to hold his own for years and years alongside guys with awesome suits of armor, mystic hammers, super soldier serums, and so on and so on. Since nearly their formation, Hawkeye—or Ronin if you wanna get technical and current—has been one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on his guts, toughness and refusal to quit regardless of the circumstances. He’s also shown no fear up against the baddest dudes in the Marvel Universe all the way up to cosmic heavies like Kang and The Collector, so you better believe he could handle a Green Lantern ring, even if it would inevitable make him look like Green Arrow.

BLUE: Captain America (Steve Rogers)
It’s not hard to find the Marvel Universe’s beacon of hope if you’re even kinda familiar with the landscape: it’s always been Steve Rogers. In America’s darkest times during World War II, Captain America was created in large part to provide hope to a nation and the people who were fighting a seemingly impossible battle for what was right. Since enterting the modern era, Cap has always been the guy who everybody else, be they Avenger or otherwise, turns to when it seems like all is lost. If Captain America can still throw his shield, you know there’s still hope for the good guys to win; Frank Miller captured it beautifully during “Born Again” and even during the 90’s creators didn’t forget as there was a great moment during “Maximum Carnage” of all stories where Spider-Man is about to quit and then Cap shows up. Heck, the last couple years of Marvel stories have in large part shown how much the world goes to crap when Steve Rogers isn’t around and people lose hope. Beyond inspiring hope though, Steve also embodies hope for a better nation, a better world and a better tomorrow—and he believes it.

INDIGO: The Silver Surfer
Compassion seems to be perhaps the hardest component of the emotional spectrum to nail down on these little armchair QB lists, because it can be tough to suss out what defines it and separates it from love, but luckily there’s one dude in the Marvel Universe who has demonstrated pretty clearly he has compassion in spades: The Silver Surfer. In the story where we first met The Surfer, the classic Galactus Trilogy, his whole arc consisted of getting to know humanity just a little bit and then going against his godlike master, risking his power and existence, and then being imprisoned on a planet where he didn’t fit in all because he felt compassion for the people of Earth. The Surfer’s motivation and characterization may have waffled here and there in the intervening years, but anybody willing to put that much on the line for a race of people he just met because he sees even a spark of potential for good is obviously one heckuva compassionate fellow. Also: that visual would look pretty rad.

STAR SAPPHIRE: Storm
Is there a rule that a Star Sapphire has to be a lady? Yeah, the uniform would look odd on a guy, but has this ever been established firmly? Regardless, I’ll assume it can’t be a fella and pick Storm, who’s a pretty solid selection even if men are in play. Just recently, Storm’s love for her husband was enough to carry her into the Wakandan equivalent of hell and bring them both back, breaking all sorts of metaphysical rules in the process. Going back, ever since her introduction, Ororo has always been portrayed as a person deeply committed to the people she cares about—Kitty Pryde, Forge, Yukio, the list goes on—and also to nature itself. She doesn’t hide her emotion and would no doubt proudly wield a weapon that allows her to spread love across the universe.

Hark...Holiday Comics

Lo in years past there weren't always trusty collections of holiday-themed comic book stories that could all be found in one place (such as the 2009 Marvel Holiday Spectacular featuring Werewolf By Night in "Werewolf By Eve"--available now both online and in print!). No, in the days before consolidation became hip, tales of Christmas, Chanukah, etc. cheer were instead relegated to issues of ongoing series, weaved seamlessly into a character's tapestry of continuity each December or there about.

Ok, I'm lying; "Holiday Special" type comics have been around since at least the 90's (probably the 80's) and occasionally there is still a one-off issue of your favorite super hero title that takes a month off to dress their lead up as Santa or teach us the meaning of the Menorah. Still, I just ate up two paragraphs pretty quick, didn't I?

Where was I? Oh yeah: holiday comics.

I can't say I've read enough enough comics centered around holiday cheer that I can compile any sort of definitive "Best Of" list, but here are five from my youth or thereabout that I at least remember, meaning that for better or worse they did make an impression.

"...Guess Who Just Came Down the Chimney!" from UNCANNY X-MEN #143
The final issue of Chris Claremont and John Byrne's legendary run together on the X-Men, and while it has since been reported far and wide by both that they were not getting along by this point, it certainly doesn't show in this classic. Not a shocker that in their last shared tale on the franchise they'd shape for a generation or two, these creators chose to focus on Kitty Pryde, a character near and dear to both. With all of the other X-Men out enjoying their Christmas plans, young (and Jewish) Kitty sticks around the X-Mansion and ends up having to face a N'garai demon with pretty much only her wits. Of course there's a happy ending and the plot is plenty sappy, but it also has awesome action and is beautifully drawn, and really that's pretty spiffy for a comic of this type.

"Funeral for a Friend Part 4: Metropolis Mailbag II" from SUPERMAN v2 #76
In general I thought Dan Jurgens' concept for his annual "Metropolis Mailbag" issue of Superman--in which the Man of Steel takes a break from fighting aliens and scientists and whatnot to fly around fulfilling all the wishes kids send to Santa via the Metropolis mail--was a wonderfully simple and fun one that guaranteed a nice uplifting story with plenty of "Aww" moments at least once a year. However, the most poignant of these unquestionably came the year Superman was unavailable for his task, having "died" at the hands of Doomsday a month earlier, and thus his super friends have to pick up the slack. Thus you've got the Justice League, Captain Marvel, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and even Kiel's beloved Agent Liberty reunitin families and delivering presents, culminating with a picked up thread of the heroes helping to rebuild a house destroyed during the Doomsday fight and the jerky teenage son admitting Superman didn't suck after all. Jurgens is in his prime drawing every DC hero and the cover has Batman releasing a friggin' dove from his hand.

"Rhino Plastered" from INCREDIBLE HULK #378
Once again, we travel back to Peter David's epic tenure as writer of Incredible Hulk, because it was simply that awesome. In this installment, that lovable loser the Rhino opts against robbing a bank when he sees the Hulk is in town and instead steals a Santa suit off a Salvation Army volunteer, planning to scrounge up cash for "charity" then take off. Unfortunately for the horned one, a mall floor manager in need of a last minute Santa spots Rhino and drags him inside to sub in. At first, Rhino goes with the flow, but even this hardened super villain is disgusted at how bratty the kids are, causing him to lose his cool, causing the nearby Bruce Banner to lose his cool...and so forth. Though the visuals of Rhino as Santa Claus fighting the Hulk through a packed mall would probably be enough to make this a gem on their own, but David has a leg up on many writers who awkwardly stumble their way through comedy issues such as these in that he is actually a funny dude and has a knack for this sort of thing. Also, the fact that it's the curmudgeonly grey Hulk as opposed to the dumb green Hulk works wonderfully here. I won't spoil exactly how they get there, but the final page of the issue features Rhino still as Santa and Hulk as the world's biggest elf working together to save one little girl's Christmas; it's awesome.

"What Do You Get the JLA for Christmas?" from SUPERMAN v2 #165
Jeph Loeb pretty much makes sure he gets the equivalent of a nice slow softball right down the middle to hit a holiday home run here by assembling the all-star art team of Ed McGuinness, Art Adams, Ian Churchill, Rob Liefeld, Joe Madureira, Humberto Ramos and Mike Wieringo to draw a story wherein Superman buys Christmas presents for the other members of the "Big 7" JLA, but hey, a hit out of the park is a hit out of the park, and this issue is great harmless fun that also helps advance the series' ongoing plots and gets some clever sight gags in to boot. The story follows right on the heels of Lex Luthor getting elected President with the narrative being driven by Superman getting each of his teammates' opinions on the deal, but the draw here is really seeing what Lois thinks Batman wants for Christmas and Rob Liefeld drawing Aquaman.

"Tidings of Comfort and Joy" from FORCE WORKS #8
13-year old Ben was totally fooled by the seemingly obvious juxtaposition of a giant "X" and the silhouette on the cover to this issue into thinking it was yet another gratuitous Wolverine guest appearance, but that's actually Hawkeye, who shows up in this issue as an invited guest of USAgent to the first (and last) ever Force Works holiday bash. Agent's intent is to reunite Clint Barton with his former West Coast Avengers teammates for the first time since the death of his wife, Mockingbird, but unfortunately Hawkeye's distrust of Iron Man and a sitcom-esque bit of confusion where he watches Tony Stark dissing him during a speech on a video monitor then mutes it before he can hear the subsequent compliment scuttles the deal. Speakin of USAgent, his crazy red, white and blue Sgt. Pepper's get-up is another highlight of this issue, as are the attempts of the various Force Workers and Spider-Woman's daughter Rachel to teach Century the meaning of Christmas. Man, I really owe Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning a pair of cards this year reminding them of this bad boy.

Five comic book logos I dig

One of the cooler bits of comic book business around the Internet if you ask me is the semi-regular LogoStudies series that award-winning letterer Todd Klein features on his blog. Basically, Todd will take a character or franchise (recent ones have been Robin and the Legion of Super-Heroes) and look back at the history of their logos, analyzing and commenting from a place of great expertise.

Logos (like letterers) are one of the unsung heroes of comic books, as an eye-catching one can earn a book interest and perhaps purchase from a customer who might have thought nothing of it before heading to the store.

I figured trying to come up with a "Top however many" list of my very favorite comic book logos would be a bit tough, as there are thousands (maybe more) out there and I'd inevitably bump the number up to 50, spend my entire weekend compiling, and then in addition to not planning key details of my wedding next weekend also forget Warlock Chronicles or something and be upset with myself.

Instead, here are five logos I happen to find rad and why...

UNCLE SAM AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS
With all due respect to the talented duo of Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and company, I don't think I've read more than an issue or two of US&tFF (so many comics, so little time is all), however, from the moment I saw the first finished cover, I've told anybody who will listen that book had one of the coolest, most unique and most attention-getting logos I'd ever seen. Whereas most logos go in the direction of trying to be more 3-D or contemporary looking, this one stands out by embracing a flat feel with classic style and a great mix of colors regardless of what they are.
THE GOON
A lot of one-shot Halloween specials or limited run horror books will adopt some sort of spooky font in their logo for a short term value, but The Goon employs a neat lettering in its title monthly that fits the tone of the series perfectly and makes it stand out from most everything on the shelf (not unlike The Goon itself). The Goon logo is not a complex one, but I feel like it's one a lot of thought was put into and that comes off a little bit spooky, a little bit fun, and all intriguing.
HULK/THE INCREDIBLE HULK
I've always dug the classic Incredible Hulk logo currently flying on two ongoing titles (Incredible Hulk and adjectiveless Hulk) for a pretty dumb, simple reason: it has bricks. In its earliest days, the Hulk logo was pretty plain and even as it evolved to have more depth you couldn't really distinguish it, but adding the brick surface to the letters was a totally money move. Spider-Man has webs and Batman has bats (duh) that are naturally incorporated in their logos to their benefit, but nothing really pops as a symbol you'd associate with the Hulk (it's the same way in that old school WrestleMania game for Nintendo that Andre the Giant's power-up symbol was just a big hand); however, bricks are a cool generic "strong guy" thing that also happen to look dope on typeface, so hurrah for ingenuity!
SUPERMAN
Really the original super hero logo (for the original super hero) has endured for over 70 years with rare and never long-lasting deviations for simple reasons: it looks great and it's doubtful any changes would really improve it. It's amazing how modern the Superman logo looks with three-dimensional effects and strong typeface considering the template was established in 1938 and really has only altered in drips and drabs since then (the "S" is a little smoother, etc.). Obviously it's the most recognizable comic book logo in the world and that counts for a lot as well. For me, I've always dug the Superman logo, but it was seeing it blown up to gigantic size in Wednesday Comics that reminded me just how awesome it can be.
X-MEN (1968-2001)
There's no comic book logo I have spent more time drawing and tinkering with since childhood more than the quintessential block letter "3-D" X-Men logo that rode high atop Uncanny X-Men and its sister titles for 33 years. It's not that different from the Superman logo in a lot of ways, so obviously this bad boy came from a winning formula, but the X-Men header has always had more impact to me, probably a lot based on the role the book played in my youth and nostalgia, but also, I believe for tangible reasons that I can at least somewhat put my finger on. First and foremost, the letter "X" is a crowd-pleaser and putting it front and center makes for an impactful logo. Second, the way the other letters slope smaller as they move right is a Superman trick, but with less letters, "X-Men" is able to remain more compact and each character stays larger, so there's extra "oomph." From the Living Monolith grabbing it to Dark Phoenix destroying it (or even adding disco lights, the X-Men logo has been through a lot as the book's creators have gone to lengths and taken risks to make it memorable--just a cool logo.